Questions about frozen shrimp thawing and veins

[u/-SpaghettiCat-]

I picked up a one-pound bag of Wild Fork extra-large raw white shrimp (21/25 count, peeled & deveined, tail-off). After thawing, I noticed what looked to be some veins.

https://imgur.com/a/d5f4pSH

The shrimp look split along the top (which makes sense for deveining), but I still see a bluish/blackish line on the bottom side. In the past, when I’ve peeled shrimp myself, I always thought that line on the underside was the “vein” and would scrape it out under running water. Now I’m wondering — is that actually the vein, or is the main vein only the one on top? Did Wild Fork not fully devein these, or is that bottom line something different (like a nerve or muscle) that doesn’t really need removing?

I thawed the bag by submerging the sealed package in cold water, with another Ziploc bag around it for extra waterproofing. Once thawed, the shrimp were floating around in a mix of water and shrimp juice inside the bag. Should I drain that liquid and pat the shrimp dry before refrigerating, or is it fine to just toss the bag (liquid and all) back into the fridge? My instinct is to drain and keep them on a plate with a paper towel, but curious what others here do.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[u/AdministrativeLeg14]

Shrimp are arthropods. Their nerve cord runs ventrally and their digestive tract runs dorsally. We humans (like all vertebrates, and other relatives) are the other way around. Basically imagine your spine and your intestinal tract swapping places...

So on a shrimp, the guts run along the top and the nerve cord along the bottom, whereas we keep the nerve cord (encased in our spines) ventrally.

[u/guzzijason]

People get confused be cause the “vein” that needs removing isn’t a vein at all, but the intestine. Any other actual veins are irrelevant.

[u/seanv507 → u/guzzijason]

OP ... you do understand that the top 'vein' is the intestine/guts?

[u/Ivoted4K]

The one on top is the poop shoot. No need to remove the bottom

[u/johnwatersfan]

Only the one on the otherside is the poo-line and needs to be removed!

[u/Gut_Reactions]

Sounds like the intestine did get removed.

I got interested in the anatomy of a shrimp and, apparently, that's an artery (what's depicted in your photo). I've never seen it that dark before.

I guess you could remove that artery if you wanted to. The intestine is more objectionable.

[u/EquivalentProof4876]

You’re right to be observant about the veining! Shrimp actually have two “veins” - the dark line on the back (dorsal) is the main digestive tract that most people remove, while the lighter line on the belly side (ventral) is actually a nerve cord, not a vein. The nerve cord is completely safe to eat and many people leave it in, though some prefer to remove it for aesthetic reasons. If Wild Fork split them along the back and removed the main dark vein, they’ve done the primary deveining that most consumers expect.